Social responsibility

At SUMIGRAN we strive to be a socially responsible company in every aspect of our daily work. In fact, we firmly believe that our success depends directly on the well-being of our employees, customers and suppliers, as well as, of course, our environment and community. For that exact reason, our staff are committed to the highest ethical standards and we maintain these fundamental values ​​in each activity we engage in everyday

From our point of view, clients, employees and suppliers are vital to the ongoing success and prosperity of our business and they in fact drive our achievement. Consequently, the relationships we build with each of our stakeholders are the cornerstone of the overall success of each of the parties involved in our business. The mutual trust and prosperity that stem from each of our closely nurtured relationships are of great value to SUMIGRAN, and this ultimately means a great deal of time and money is saved and the bottom line is significantly improved for everyone involved

We are proud to say that we systematically review our manufacturing processes and the products we acquire in order to identify and continuously improve ways to achieve success. The great news is that each member of our highly talented team constantly seeks better, faster and more efficient solutions, by means of continuous improvement and innovation on a daily basis. This ethos is applied right across the whole company, thus ensuring that SUMIGRAN is always one step ahead its competitors

We´re responsible with our clients

Our main mission is to provide our customers with satisfactory, high quality products at a fair price. We strive to find the best solutions tailored to each individual client, with the sole objective of ensuring their full satisfaction. As a means to achieving this, we have a wide range of solutions suitable for any application, thus covering all potential needs that may arise. Our tailor-made approach is highly customer-centric and typical of how we put the customer first at SUMIGRAN

Customer satisfaction always comes first here, so we arrange and organize all our daily activities, both internally and externally, around providing 100% satisfaction to our customers

Furthermore, one of the most essential elements of SUMIGRAN's corporate identity is our commitment to never disappoint or displease a client at any stage or in any way - even at the initial phase of providing a quote for a specific product or service. In a nutshell, our aim is to provide a professional service which simply must be classified as excellent, efficient and of top quality by the most important people to us - our clients. In addition, at SUMIGRAN, it is inacceptable to us that any client be disappointed by our customer service

However, nobody is perfect and sometimes mistakes can be made, like in specific cases in which the goods supplied do not have the correct measurements, number of units or colour / reference corresponding to the order, or because there may be quality defects. Whenever we do make a mistake, we try to correct it in the shortest time possible. To achieve this, we make correcting the mistake a top priority, before any other task, in order to replace the wrong or defective material as soon as possible, thus generating the least disruption possible to the client

In short, our permanent ambition is to be our customer’s favourite and most popular supplier in our market. We aim to be the benchmark in the sector by standing out mainly due to excellent service, and for supplying products and providing quality services, at a fair price within the agreed delivery time. Having the ability to empathize and put oneself in the client's place is absolutely fundamental in reaching these goals

We´re responsible with our suppliers

Just as we are socially responsible, we also try to ensure that our suppliers act likewise and we ensure this by only selecting suppliers who display ethical behaviour. In this way, we contribute to improving the society we live in through our own ethical attitude, and we also influence third parties to display positive behaviour

Some people think they can squeeze suppliers practically to the point of abuse, just because they are the customer and feel in a favoured position. At SUMIGRAN the client-supplier relationship means cooperation for the benefit of all parties involved. We strongly believe in win-win situations. The proof is that we have never mistreated a supplier and that is for a very simple reason: we benefit by cooperating with the supplier so we should therefore take care of them. At the end of the day, we will continue to make a profit for a very long time thanks to not abusing or mistreating collaborators

As customers of our suppliers, we do not think it is smart to take advantage unreasonably of them. It is one thing to be demanding and a very different thing to be abusive. However, simply showing empathy towards the other party and putting ourselves in their shoes can benefit both companies

Another point we take extreme caution and care with is the means and terms of payment to our devoted suppliers. It really goes without saying that this point is absolutely crucial to us in the successful running of our operation as we consider our suppliers a key stakeholder in the success of our business. Considering the hours of hard work sourcing top quality suppliers from around the world and subsequently building mutually beneficial relationships with them, we strictly adhere to the legal maximum term for payment set in law nowadays. Therefore, our payment method is through “Confirming” at 30 or 60 days from the invoice date. Our priority is always to value and cherish the customer-supplier relationship, which means that we never consider exceeding this legal term of payment as we feel this would be a blatant form of abuse towards our trusted and carefully selected suppliers. We firmly believe that if we treat our customers fairly, they will be more than willing to go the extra mile for us. In addition, as a direct consequence of our practical business mentality, we never use outdated means of payment such as promissory notes, which we firmly believe to be abusive and very old-fashioned for this day and age of digital technology which we live in

We´re responsible with our employees

At SUMIGRAN we have a practical and fair approach towards our human resources as well because we genuinely consider them to be a guarantee of the success of our business both now and far into the future. We clearly understand that we have only come this far in our business success story because of the dynamic, innovative and talented individuals we have hired in the past. Therefore, we ensure that we only select the most qualified, committed, and self-motivated people for our organisation

We are fully aware that investing in human capital is a clear competitive advantage in the marketplace. And to stress that point, we in turn take extreme care and precautionary measures in the hiring and management of our employees and teams, by only picking the right people for the right jobs based on their exact skill-sets. This makes our company more efficient and streamlined overall

Therefore, because of the previously outlined reasons, we are totally against temporary employment in any way, shape or form. We consider it to be much more efficient and wise to form teams that happily spend their entire career working for SUMIGRAN. In fact, there has never been a temporary work contract, nor have there ever been any redundancies here, due simply to the fact that there has always been steady growth ever since the founding of the company, which has meant additional workers have joined our teams every year to deal with the growing work load of our business expansion

Unlike the “hiring and firing” culture typical nowadays in many corporations with a high-volume, frequent turnover of staff with temporary, factory-gate style zero hours contracts, we focus on quality contracts for quality people. We know that investing in our employees’ stability will reap great rewards both for company and customer

Our aim is to actually create our own particular style of corporate culture based on the highest ethical standards mentioned previously which consist of mutually beneficial cooperation, continuous innovation and improvement in all facets of the business

The following are what we consider to be the key ingredients to a high-performance, self-motivated, results-orientated team:

Employees need to feel valued and should be compensated fairly at all times. We reward our employees for their continuous effort and dedication with good pay and fairness in accordance with current local labour market conditions. To make this work for everyone, we regularly collect up-to-date, relevant labour market data to fully ensure that our compensation rates are as competitive and up-to-date as possible

Workers need to have a suitable work-life balance to ensure sustainability and quality. We know that enjoying a higher quality of life, spending more time with family and loved ones, plus enjoying extra leisure time will definitely make our teams happier and more productive. Other key points include living close to the workplace to avoid long, unnecessary commutes, as well as employees having a comfortable, well-organised workplace with a good environment. They also use the most modern, efficient, and safe tools and processes possible to carry out their daily tasks and duties, which enables them to achieve high productivity and top results effortlessly, thanks to the constant investment in equipment and best practices. We pay a lot of attention to detail in all these key aspects of helping and supporting the employee before, during and after work to ensure a harmonious and productive workforce

They must be willing to develop professionally and improve their careers on a constant basis. This obviously leads to higher quality individuals with greater skills and broader knowledge. Therefore, as far as we are concerned, the best kind of career concept we can develop and promote within SUMIGRAN is one which combines individual interests and needs with those of the company in order to foster more efficiency and enhanced productivity

They must be endowed with greater knowledge on the wide range of matters that affect our business. There is simply no denying that promoting knowledge is absolutely essential right across the company to favourably influence and change the business environment we operate in, especially if we want to shape outcomes to our advantage. The old refrain of “Knowledge is Power” rings more true nowadays than ever before as technology and innovation move forward quickly today. We really have to ensure our people constantly acquire the most suitable and timely knowledge tailored to our circumstances, so to accomplish this aim, we consequently give our teams the opportunity to update and expand their knowledge and skills on an ongoing basis. This in turn ensures we are one step ahead of our competitors and are always reacting to changes in the business environment and market. Therefore, we pay special attention to permanent, lifelong education and the improvement of our teams as we develop and implement specialized training programs for all positions within the company

As our clients and capabilities grow, we also incorporate new values ​​so that employees enjoy working in groups, and contribute their unique ideas and work ethic to the success of the team and the company. As a socially responsible company, the ultimate goal of SUMIGRAN, is none other than the generation of sustainable, quality jobs, and thus contributing to achieve a better society overall

We´re responsible with our environment

Going above and beyond the call of duty in the area of compliance with environmental regulations can bring great benefits and business opportunities. All over the world companies have come to terms with the notion that being a socially and environmentally responsible entity is really a whole lot more than a mere legal duty: the truth is that it actually affects their bottom-lines in a major way, as well as the long-term success of their business in the marketplace and world economy

Corporate and social responsibility is an integral part of the corporate identity of SUMIGRAN today. We are pleased that this is our reality and as a result, it is not surprising to notice how business sustainability is firmly anchored right throughout our complete manufacturing process. The fact of the matter is that our concept of sustainability extends far beyond our environmental footprint thanks to our eco-friendly operational practices, ranging from clean production processes to green recycling practices. It is also interesting to note how no entity has been harder on SUMIGRAN in terms of environmental demands than ourselves, and this has always been the case ever since our beginnings in 1999. So, it is safe to say that we lead the way and practice what we preach in terms of environmental friendliness and adoption of green technology and eco-efficiency. Not only do we talk the talk in terms of waste reduction and clean, green business operations but we actually walk the walk. And we are not prepared to rest on our laurels in this area either. We are constantly striving in search of new ways and innovative methods to keep on decreasing our environmental footprint while maintaining the quality objectives that we have established

We have spent years improving our work processes and procedures to find better ways to work in harmony with the environment and the following are some of the milestones we have achieved to date:

Zero generation of emissions or waste whatsoever throughout our production process, nor the use of hazardous substances

All raw materials, such as aluminium, PVC, and other plastic derivatives are completely recycled

Only electric power is used, with the exception of the fossil fuel used by our fleet of delivery vehicles

All paper generated in offices is 100% recycled

Our commitment is to be 100% eco-friendly and to minimise our carbon footprint by gradually cutting down on paper consumption and progressively decreasing our delivery vehicles’ emissions by substituting our current fleet of vehicles with eco-friendly alternatives

The responsibility of the client as consumer

The good news is that there are companies out there today who are socially responsible “of their own accord” and it is also highly encouraging to know that consumers have the ability and power to improve society by choosing to purchase products or services solely from socially responsible companies and organizations. By refusing to do business with unethical companies, the consumer can force such companies to correct their behaviour and become ethically and environmentally friendly. In any case, if companies do not follow suit with ethical practices it is really only a matter of time before they will disappear from the marketplace and be replaced by socially ethical corporations

In today´s age of digital business, social media and real-time, global information sharing, more and more consumers are better informed than ever. Everyone is becoming much more aware of the social responsibility of companies and their role in society. A more informed, knowledgeable customer wants to know if the products or services they buy come from a "clean" or “green” supply chain. For instance, they will do their utmost to find out if the raw materials they purchase come from fair trade channels, or if the manufacture of goods involves labour exploitation. This is exactly why being socially and ethically responsible is of paramount importance to the integrity and future of any brand or business organization and SUMIGRAN is no exception to that

Furthermore, there is much more regulation and compliance in global business nowadays to safeguard customers’ health and safety and ensure ethical business practices. Unethical behaviour is more likely to be punished and prevented by government bodies and watchdogs. To accomplish this, ethical practices need to be promoted within the company to ensure the client’s well-being and health and safety. Today, it is typically expected that an organization has an ethical code of conduct or ethical regulations that act as a moral roadmap for employees, business partners and suppliers to follow to guarantee safe, legal and fair business practices. Although many organizations just establish corporate conduct regulations to simply repair the damage done in the event of a public scandal or ethical breach, these types of guidelines definitely also promote ethical standards both inside and outside the organization, which ultimately leads to dramatic improvement both in the personal well-being of consumers and in society as a whole in countries worldwide

Finally, corporate social responsibility is a win-win situation for both customer and company as it makes organizations discover and meet the needs of customers in a greener and more sustainable way which will contribute to a better society for future generations

In most developed and technologically advanced societies, there is a widespread rejection of companies which lack social awareness. In short, by acquiring products and services from socially committed organizations, it motivates or forces those other companies to follow similar practices, which benefits society as a whole